High ceiling living room. Traditional rooms don't speak to any specific age group. A room like this one by Mosaic Architects could belong to a family or couple, young or old. There's a familiarity to it which is inherently comfortable, but it is definitely not old or dated.

Then look inside the fireplace. The brick firebox is laid in a herringbone pattern. Subtle. The fauteuil facing the fireplace is a taupe velvet cut to create a 3D swirl pattern. And both the sofa and the club chair opposite it play the texture game with their small-weave diamonds. With the exception of the decorative pillows, the only non-textured pattern is at the windows. A tone-on-tone. Quiet. Elegant.

Light blue living room. Traditional style is often associated with grand spaces, but there‘s no reason why a smaller space can‘t be decorated in an elegant, traditional way. This room has very high ceilings but not a lot of floor space, so designer Amanda Carol substituted a coffee table for two stools, used large scale art to balance out the window, and incorporated tall millwork over the mantel to draw the eye upwards. The result is a somewhat small space that appears much grander than it really is.